


Showers and Tears

by amaanogawa



Category: Free!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-28
Updated: 2014-08-28
Packaged: 2018-02-15 04:09:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2215251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amaanogawa/pseuds/amaanogawa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A oneshot/drabble I wrote using chemicalirry's prompt on tumblr here: http://chemicalirry.tumblr.com/post/95962028732/can-there-be-a-soumako-fic-where-makoto-finds</p><p>Makoto finds Sousuke in the shower at the end of episode 9.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Showers and Tears

Sousuke feels his eyes burning, tears beginning to roll down his cheeks and he almost  _laughs,_ because he’s a 6’1” muscular male curled up on a shower floor  _crying_. He could curse himself. Gripping onto his shoulder, he can feel the pulsating heat from the inflammation, even with the cold water he sat under. Pain shoots throughout and for the first time he questions whether or not he can actually do this.

Upon hearing footsteps, his head snaps up and he attempts to pull himself off of the floor, but his shoulder can’t support his weight and he flops back onto the cold, wet tiles. He grits his teeth, tears streaming down his face now more from frustration than from pain.

When the figure rounds the corner, Sousuke turns his head to avoid confrontation until a familiar voice calls his name. “…Yamazaki-kun?”

Focusing his eyes on the figure, he curses under his breath. Of course it was someone that knew him. Of course it had to be someone from the Iwatobi team.

"Yamazaki-kun! What happened, are you alr-" Makoto swiftly crouches down over the hunched over Sousuke, widening his eyes when he sees Sousuke’s painfully swollen looking shoulder. "Your shoulder…so it hadn’t healed yet."

"It’s nothing." Sousuke snaps, recoiling from Makoto’s touch. "I’m fine. Just go."

"Of course you’re not!" Makoto cries, worry etched across his face. He reaches up and turns off the water. "We need to get you to a hospital."

"No!" Sousuke snarls, slapping Makoto’s hand off. "Leave me alone, it doesn’t concern you."

Makoto grabs Sousuke’s hands with a surprising amount of power. His mouth curved into a frown, brows furrowed with an anger that Sousuke didn’t know he could have. He always looked so kindly and sweet, but none of that was present here, the only sound echoing through the room being the slow  _drip drip_ of the shower.

"Don’t be an idiot!" Makoto seethes, tightening his grip on Sousuke’s hand. "You’re going to damage your body even more by doing this. You’re in no shape to swim the relay, and you know this. Take a year off to recover- you’ve been scouted right? Just get better and you can-"

“ _There is no next year!_ " Sousuke yells, tears once again rolling down his cheeks. "There’s no hope for me! There’s no getting better. There’s  _nothing_! Nothing after this. I just- I need to swim today. I have to. I can’t…I won’t be able to swim with Rin ever again if I don’t do it today.” _  
_

His voice cracks at the edges and he doubles into Makoto, fists pounding into the other’s chest. Strong arms loop around him, grounding him, keeping him whole and Sousuke thinks that if Makoto lets go he might just fall to pieces.

"Okay. It’s okay." Makoto murmurs against Sousuke’s hair. "Shhh. It’s okay."

The two sit there for a minute, maybe ten, maybe twenty. Sousuke has no idea but he gathers strength from Makoto’s warmth and soon enough he’s quiet. From there, Makoto pulls him up and situates him on a bench, leaving and returning within moments with an ice pack in hand. Humiliation washes through Sousuke just as quickly as relief had and somehow Sousuke can’t bring himself to look Makoto in the face. He hisses as the ice cold bag is pressed to his shoulder.

"Sorry." Makoto whispers, fingertips trailing over Sousuke’s back. He presses a thumb into a dip between Sousuke’s neck and shoulder, rubbing firm circles into the muscle.

"What are you doing?"

"Massaging your back. It’ll help. Haru twisted his shoulder once in elementary school and this eased some of the tension. Don’t move."

Sousuke sat obediently, cheeks flushing as he felt the strong movements leaning over him. But it felt damn good and he leaned into Makoto’s warmth. The sounds of cheering and whistles and shouting outside drowned into a blur.

"There. Feel better?" Makoto whispers, suddenly very close to Sousuke’s ear and Sousuke jumps a little, feeling his face heat up. He rolls his shoulder in circles and is surprised at how much lighter it feels.

"Yea…actually, it feels good," Sousuke says slowly, stretching his arm out. "Thanks."

"This is just temporary. Promise me you’ll go to the hospital after this last race." Makoto bites his lip in concern. "Really you should go now, this is doing more harm than good…but…I understand how it feels."

"How what feels?" Sousuke raises an eyebrow.

"Not being able to swim with an important person anymore." Makoto says quietly, eyes clouding over. He shakes his head, bringing his mind back to the present. Sousuke takes Makoto’s hand in his own.

"Thanks. I owe you one." He brings Makoto’s hand to his lips, pressing a light kiss to the back and smiles when Makoto’s face flushes into a deep red. "That doesn’t mean I’m going easy on you guys during the relay though." 

Makoto’s eyes flash, a hint of mischievousness twinkling.

“ _Bring it_.”


End file.
